I'm currently reading Manhattan Love Song which reminds me a
lot of Fright. The main characters seem to be almost
identical, especially the male progtagonist, though the story
is different. It is set in 1928, which is four years before
the novel was published, but it's surprising how progressive
the thinking is about love, marriage, prostitution,
etc.
You'll find that almost all Woolrich's male characters are
like those in Fright--whining, self-indulgent, petulant, and
morally ambiguous, while his female characters are strong,
reserved, determined, and confident. That's what makes a
Woolrich novel a unique experience.
One other thing about a Woolrich novel that no one has
mentioned is that they are never predictable.
Jeff
---- Patrick King <
abrasax93@yahoo.com> wrote:
> While Woolrich's purple passages and liquid
metaphors
> are a lot to deal with, I found the book engaging
and
> interesting to think about. Preston Marshall is a
very
> unattractive protagonist. He is not charming, he
is
> not intelligent, he is a coward, and a clown.
While
> Frank in THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE, is
an
> unscrupulous character, he's both cunning
and
> masculine. Marshall has not even these traits.
The
> employer, Pond, is an interesting person because
of
> the initial way he dealt with his own crimes, but
he's
> underused in the book. Wise and his wife are
great
> characters, but represent more of Marshall's fear
of
> what they may be, then the people they actually
turn
> out to be. I do feel sorry for Marjorie but
her
> continued stupidity mitigates most of my
good
> feelings. She is in every way better than her
husband
> so why ever did she marry him in the first
place?
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